Bad Customer Experience WS

Name: Byunghyun Kim 
Group: 1

TTEC4849 Business Practice and Vehicle Safety
Customer Story of a Bad Experience
Instructions: Divide up into small groups. Read the following story, and
discuss the following questions in your small groups. Then write your answers
in the space provided.
This is a true story.
The year was about 1958, in California, before there were strong consumer
laws. Don Higgins owned a laundry and dry cleaning business, in which he
used one of the new Volkswagen bus trade vans for his deliveries. He would
pick up dirty clothes from businesses (like restaurants and auto repair shops),
clean them and deliver them back. He liked his Volkswagen van: it had lots of
space to hang the clothes and it got good fuel economy. Up until recently, it
had been very reliable. But lately the engine wasn’t running very well. The
engine was regularly missing and had low power.
So in the morning, Don took his van to his local auto repair shop. He told them
it needed fixing, maybe just a tune up, and he got a ride back to his cleaning
business. Then in mid-afternoon, he went back to pick up his van.
To his surprise, the van wasn’t ready. If fact, the repair shop owner showed
Don the engine that was now out of the van. The exhaust valve for number 3
cylinder was burnt, causing the poor running engine and lack of power. The
shop owner said he could have the engine fixed and back in the van in 3 or 4
days. And the bill would be about $400.00. (In 1958, this was a lot of money.
Don’s monthly mortgage on his house was only about $120.00 per month.)
Don was very upset. He was so upset that I (Steve McAfee) heard about this
as the little boy who lived next door to Don.
Discussion Questions:
1. From Don’s point of view, what was wrong here? What did the shop do
wrong that upset Don so much. (After all, they were fixing his van.)

 The van was not ready when Don got the repair shop. And the shop owner tried that the engine was out of the van without Don's agreement. Because it was a big work which was not a tune up. As a result, Don had to wait for 3 or 4 days for repairing his van with high price and he lost his buiness.

2. From the repair shop owner’s point of view, what was wrong with Don
getting upset at them? What did they do right or wrong?

 Don told them that the van needed fixing. For knowing exact problem, the engine was needed to dismantle and fixing took times and  a lot of money from a big work. As a result, customer did not understand exact repair process.
The price is usually a major factor in your customers decision to buy. That’s why the way you
display your price is so important. Your price tickets should:
• Show the total cash price.
• Identify any excluded cost, i.e., installation, registration.
• Not mislead in anyway, i.e., show a “six” pack, but price is for one.
• The price displayed is the same as the price in the computer
• That any claims are not misleading, i.e., “the cheapest in town ....”
when they are not.
• If GST is excluded - show “GST EXCLUSIVE” in print comparable to
the price.

3. What should have been done in this circumstance? If you were Don, what
would you have wanted to be done?

If I was Don, I would want to have a rental vehicel for van's repairing time.

4. When the repair was finished, and Don went to pick up his van, he took the
van and did not pay the whole repair bill. Did the repair shop have the right to
hold the van until they got paid?

- The seller holds the goods until the total price is paid or
- The seller holds the goods until a specified proportion of the price is paid
The customer will normally be asked to pay a deposit, which is normally (but not always) 20-25% of the total price of goods. The retailer then agrees to hold the goods until payment is complete. The retailer decides the amount of the deposit. It is not specified in the law.

5. If Don took the repair shop to court, what would you have ruled if you were
the judge? Should the repair shop pay for a replacement rental vehicle?
Should Don pay the whole repair bill? Should the repair shop pay Don for lost
business because he could not pick up and deliver clothes to his customers?

by enforcing the Act and taking court action when the Act is breached. Court action will result
based on a number of factors:
• How misleading or deceptive the practice is seen to be
• How extensive the loss to consumers or damage to competition is
• The past behaviour of the person or trader concerned
If the Court finds there has been a breach of either of these Acts they may:
• Impose monetary penalties
• Issues injunctions
• Order a variety of other remedies
• Award damages to any person affected by a breach of the Acts
• Order the company trader to undertake corrective advertising

6. What New Zealand laws relate to this story? What do New Zealand laws
say should have been done in this case?

Consumer Protection Agencies
There are a number of agencies, government departments and advisory bodies which are set up to assist customer’s as well as provider’s in dealing with issues surrounding the buying and selling of goods.
In the next part we will look at the major ones and how each of them work.

Consequential loss or the indirect loss you suffered as a result of someone else’s actions.
How the Disputes Tribunal Operates
The two parties are given an opportunity to discuss the issues disputed and reach an agreement.
If they reach agreement, the referee will check what is fair to both parties and make the agreement the tribunal’s decision.
If they cannot reach agreement, the referee thinks about what is fair for both parties, considers the evidence and makes a decision, which is legally binding, on all parties.
In each case the referee must consider the:
• Laws relevant to the case
• Evidence which has been presented
• Merits and justice of the case
If the party is unhappy about the Tribunal’s decision that person can appeal to the District Court within 28 days. A District Court judge must review the case and decide if the referee conducted the hearing in a way that was unfair to one party.